Supporters Circle Wagons as Parkway in Peril
With 64% of Gaston County residents opposing the Garden Parkway in 2010, Michael Barrett of Gaston Gazette reports on efforts to raise public support for a tax-funded toll road.
Federal law requires the state to thoroughly study the potential environmental impacts of any large highway project well before the first asphalt is laid.
But a lawsuit against a proposed toll road in nearby Union County contends that flawed data was used to complete that review, which may have played down the environmental impacts and made it easier for the project to gain federal approval. And the charges have raised questions about what methods were used to conduct a parallel environmental study on the planned Garden Parkway in Gaston County.
The Southern Environmental Law Center, which filed suit against the $800 million Monroe Connector/Bypass in November, has not confirmed that it will pursue similar litigation against the Garden Parkway. However, an official this week suggested such a legal challenge could be looming.
“I can’t say what the nature of the claims might be, but we will look at what the law requires with the Garden Parkway when the time comes,” said SELC senior attorney Chandra Taylor. “We do have concerns about the rush that’s been engaged to move these turnpike projects along, because a rush ends up creating mistakes. And that can result in decisions that don’t always comport with what the law requires.”
Read more: http://www.gastongazette.com/news/environmental-56242-parkway-project.html
